Railfanning.org News Wire

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Short Line/Regional

Opponents of $2.3 Billion DM&E Loan Voice Concern as Public Comment Period Draws to a Close

October 12, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON – As public comments came to a close, a distinguished group of national leaders has voiced their opposition to the loan and called on the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to deny a Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad (DM&E) proposal. “The American taxpayer is being railroaded again,” George Landrith, president of Frontiers of Freedom Institute, a public policy foundation dedicated to promoting free market principles, said in a statement during the comment period. “The DM&E railroad has a history of failing to live up to its financial obligations. American taxpayers deserve to know who the money is going to and

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Commuter Rail

Commuter Rail, Bus Rapid Transit Feasibility Study Launched by Tulsa Transit

October 12, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

TULSA, Okla. – Tulsa Transit’s board of directors has approved a six-month feasibility study on commuter rail and/or bus rapid transit between downtown Tulsa and downtown Broken Arrow. “This has been a topic of discussion for many years in both Tulsa and Broken Arrow, but until this time, there has not been a serious feasibility study,” Tulsa Transit General Manager Bill Cartwright said. “The firm we have retained, Lockwood, Andrews & Newman has completed similar studies in Austin, San Antonio and Dallas. They have extensive knowledge in the rail/bus rapid transit field and their studies have resulted in implementation in

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Amtrak

NTSB to Consider Two Final Accident Reports

October 12, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON – The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a public board meeting Oct. 17 to consider final accident reports about a pair of crashes. The first case involves an Oct. 15, 2005, collision near Texarkana, Ark. In that wreck, a westbound Union Pacific Railroad train collided with the rear of a standing UP train in a rail yard. The collision resulted in the puncture of a railroad tank car containing propylene, a flammable gas. An unknown ignition source ignited the migrating gas, exploding a house and killing the person inside. Approximately 3,000 residents within a 1-mile radius of the

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Amtrak

Amtrak’s Carl Sandburg to Start Running Oct. 30

October 12, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Starting Oct. 30, Illinois’ partnership with Amtrak will include an additional train on the Quincy-Chicago corridor, Gov. Rod Blagojevich announced.The expanded service comes after news that all state-sponsored Amtrak routes posted record ridership levels for Illinois’ Fiscal Year 2006; the expansion also includes additional round-trips on the Chicago-Carbondale line. Tickets for the new trains are now on sale. The expansion is part of a plan to more than double state-sponsored passenger rail service. Round-trips between Chicago and downstate will increase from three daily to seven daily by the end of October. “Amtrak is an affordable travel option,

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BNSF

BNSF, CSX Create High-Volume Intermodal Corridor

October 12, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

FORT WORTH, Texas – BNSF and CSX today announced plans to create a high-volume rail corridor for reliable intermodal services on the lines connecting California, Atlanta and the rest of the fast-growing Southeast Region. The planned service will initially include two intermodal trains each day between the West Coast and Southeast in each direction. Corridor volume on the line is expected to grow with the overall expansion of the West Coast to Southeast intermodal market. To support the planned service, BNSF will expand capacity on its rail lines connecting Avard, Okla., Memphis, Tenn., and Birmingham, Ala. CSX will expand its

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FRA

Proposed Upgrade of Emergency Systems to Improve Safety of Passenger Rail Cars

October 7, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON – Passenger and commuter rail cars will be required to have more emergency safety features, including additional window exits, under proposed regulations announced by Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph H. Boardman. “Every American who travels by train deserves the highest level of safety possible,” Boardman said. “Serious passenger rail accidents are rare, but being better prepared to handle them provides an important level of safety,” he added noting that the proposed changes will affect both existing and newly manufactured passenger rail cars. Under the proposed rule, passenger rail cars will be required to have additional emergency window exits and rescue

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CSX

Illinois Derailment Cause Determined

October 6, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A June 27 derailment of a freight train at St. Jacob, Ill., was caused by a coupler retainer plate that failed, CSX Transportation investigators say. In information filed with the Federal Railroad Administration, the company explained that the coupler retainer plate attached to an empty boxcar dislodged. With that plate out of place, the coupler drawbar dropped between the rails, derailing the boxcar and 20 trailing rail cars. The train was traveling from East St. Louis, Ill., to Indianapolis and consisted of two locomotives and 131 rail cars. A two-person crew was operating the train, and they

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Miscellaneous

The All New Railfanning.org

October 5, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

Welcome to the all-new Railfanning.org News Wire. We’re making some changes here and appreciate your patience as we transition the Web page from the harpblaster.net server to the separate Railfanning.org site. Please note any addresses that begin with railfanning.harpblaster.net will be changed to railfanning.org if they have not already. So, be sure to change your bookmarks. Be sure to check back over the next month. We have a lot of changes we plan on introducing. In the meantime, Happy Railfanning. – Todd DeFeo, Editor Railfanning.org

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World

GE to Supply 310 Locomotives to Kazakhstan

September 29, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

ERIE, Pa. – General Electric Company signed a contract to supply 310 new Evolution Series locomotives for Kazakhstan’s national railway company, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ). The locomotives will be used to help KTZ move record amounts of goods and materials by rail, driven in large part to strong demand for transit, intermodal traffic and petroleum products. “By choosing Evolution Series locomotives, KTZ is investing in the very best technology available,” said John Dineen, President and CEO of GE Transportation. “I am proud that KTZ and GE are extending our relationship, one that has proven to be very beneficial to both